1969 Chevy Camaro - Chi-Town Hustler

Chalk One Up To Exeperience As Larry Wolyniex Builds A '69 With A Killer Stance And More Attitude Than Should Be Allowed.

Larry Wolyniec has been around very fast cars most of his life. He built 10-wide racers at his Competition Cars in Bridgeview, Illinois, for more than 18 years, and during that stretch he’s seen and done everything imaginable with them, gaining experience, gaining knowledge, and discovering what delineates a good job from an ordinary build. To him, the details are the crux of it all. Word was if you (Spiro Pappas, Nick Gaglione, Nick Scavo, etc.) wanted your Super Street piece to the nth-degree, Larry was the guy. It helped that Larry knew most, if not all, of his customers on a personal level as part of a group called the “Chicago Mafia” (no, not that mafia) and those who patronized Fast Times Motorworks in nearby Morton Grove.

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We met Wolyniec at an NMCA race in Florida in the late ‘90s. We never forgot the conversation one night riding back to the motel: “Tuning a nitrous motor is pretty much the same as how you’d tune a nitro motor.” For some reason, that became an indelible statement to us. We thought, “Why would a door-slammer guy be onto something like that?” To Larry, it was simply about information he might be able to use somewhere else down the line. It was stuff he’d accumulated on the road with the “Chi-Town Hustler” Funny Car in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. As of late, Larry often crews for Bill Miller’s Top Fuel Dragster.

But what about cars of his own? Larry’s had but one street raider he says is worth talking about. In ’91-92, he had a ’35 Chevy Outlaw fiberglass shell tied to a tube frame of his own design. He broadened his scope a little more by investigating the possibilities of body panels as produced by the “Queen of Carbon Fiber” Eluisa Garza in Indianapolis. As a result, the nasty bantam-weight was a streeter that ran 8.20s at 160. Later on, he used that feather-weight stuff (for wheel tubs, at least) in his 10-wide cars.

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The point is that Larry got around, met a wide variety of business contacts and entrepreneurs. Billet Specialties owner Glen Grozich was one of them. Three years ago, Grozich approached him about showcasing his products in a highly visible street machine built specifically for Goodguys events to get feedback in a place swarming with the people Grozich is trying reach.

They knew that the owner of Bump and Grind Auto Body down in Homer
Glen had a very clean, unmolested ’69 Camaro. This was important
because neither of them wanted to wait out a Body Shop Jail term and
they wanted a solid rendition. Nothing special, no historical-value SS
or Z28; just a pristine starting point would do nicely. The car they
got was right on the money. It had a 396 and a four-speed.

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Had it not been for a road incident coming back from a Goodguys venue in Ohio, things might have turned out differently. Because of its limited drivetrain capability, they trailered the Camaro down to the show. Another one of Glen’s cars was being driven to and from the same venue. Along the way, it become inoperable, so the boys loaded it in the box and drove the Camaro instead.

Larry: “At freeway speed, the motor was zingin’ over 4,000 with the 3.73s and we had a long way to go, but we figured it would make it from Ohio to Illinois, no problem. It didn’t. It damn near threw a rod or two out and we had to limp it home.” But here was opportunity rapping at their driver’s door. It set the stage for a complete drivetrain change-out that included a much more modern engine and transmission, ones that would facilitate highway driving as well as satisfy Larry’s penchant for burying the speedometer needle.

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He outfitted a ZZ502 Base crate engine with a 502 intake manifold, Barry Grant carburetor, and a Holley G-rotor electric fuel pump. He stuck it with an MSD 6AL box, Billet distributor, and Blaster coil. He fixed it with an Edelbrock water pump and a Billet Specialties Tru-Trac accessory drive, the first one finished in black anodize. He mounted a Comp Cams timing cover and screwed on a Moroso 8-quart sump. Then he customized the rest with Billet’s new solid billet rocker covers, 2-1/8-inch primary pipe Hooker Super Comp headers (modified to fit the engine and chassis better than they do out of the box) and introduced them to a ceramic film by Coating Specialties (Chicago Heights).

The 2009 Goodguys Car Show started the season with a two car shows in sunny Southern California and we took one for the team covering the autocross action featured by Air Ride Technologies Street Challenge Autocross in Costa Mesa and Del Mar. - Camaro Performers Magazine » Read More